The thin line by V.R Joseph

Kane, living with his solo mother and working on a building site during his term holidays, makes a series of stupid mistakes. His inability to deal with the consequences means that his problems become compounded, and he has to get through some difficult times. The book is set in New Zealand, and has (as claimed in the blurb) a distinctly NZ flavour. But, strangely, none of the names of cities, towns, forests, mountains etc are real. I can understand inventing names for streets to maintain privacy, but for a novel set in the present and aiming for convincing reality, it seems a bit odd to set it in a sort of parallel universe. This is another book written mainly in the present tense. The author gives us a clear picture of Kane as a troubled teenager, and some knowledgeable details about deer hunting and bush craft.